Lucas tells why Anakin turns to the Dark Side.

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George Lucas talked for the first time at length about the upcoming Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones in an interview with Time magazine. Among other things, Lucas revealed why Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen) eventually turns evil. "He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things," Lucas told the magazine. "He can't let go of his mother; he can't let go of his girlfriend. He can't let go of things. It makes you greedy. And when you're greedy, you are on the path to the dark side, because you fear you're going to lose things, that you're not going to have the power you need."

Anakin's story parallels the saga's epic political narrative, Lucas added. "All democracies turn into dictatorships--but not by coup," the director said. "The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea. ... What kinds of things push people and institutions into this direction? That's the issue that I've been exploring: How did the Republic turn into the Empire? That's paralleled with: How did Anakin turn into Darth Vader? How does a good person go bad, and how does a democracy become a dictatorship? It isn't that the Empire conquered the Republic--it's that the Empire is the Republic. ... One day, Princess Leia and her friends woke up and said, 'This isn't the Republic anymore, it's the Empire. We are the bad guys. Well, we don't agree with this. This democracy is a sham, it's all wrong.'